The Eighth Trial

[hot_mess_express]

Who: Heroes
When: Day 17, morning
Where: the party zone The Fairy Circle

Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth.

Just like always, the train shudders in response to some foreign power. You’ve been here before, haven’t you? You know what will happen when you venture out of the train and into the dark forest beyond in search of some old house, or a tower, or whatever fresh nonsense awaits you.

But there’s no inexplicable new castle or what-have-you. Instead the air outside the train is filled with glittering bubbles floating lazily above what appears to be a collection of large white mushrooms grown in a circle.

Obviously there is no door, and touching any of the bubbles will simply cause them to burst. Should you step into the circle, however….

Foolish heroes, destined to be swallowed by the encroaching malice… can your hearts truly withstand the nightmare that is reality?

Darkness overtakes you.


When you wake up the first thing you may notice is this game has a soundtrack. The music appears to have no discernible source and fills the entire room. ... and what a room it is.

It appears you’ve been transported to some kind of… children’s… birthday party?

At the far end of the room is a large table with a sign above it reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY. It’s a pretty impressive set up with a variety of goodies including noise makers, party hats, disposable plates and cups, and enough sugar to fuel a whole room full of grade schoolers

The biggest and arguably most important party refreshment sits right in the middle of the table, however; a giant bowl of fruit punch. Don’t worry children it’s non-alcoholic. It's also not suspicious at all.


For now, don't worry! Mingle! Eat food! Don't think about all the bad things going on right now!! And don't forget to read the rules near the punch bowl.

RULES ☆ EFFECTS ☆ Q&A ☆ TURN-IN ☆ WINNERS & ENDGAME

Comments

[bowtiedbones]

Do you have any hobbies?

[bad_crowmance]

I'm still working that out.... I figure I'll try a bunch of things out. Oh! I'm gonna get a deck of cards. What about you?

[bowtiedbones]

Besides my studies— 80H got me some viper skeletons, so I'm working on animating those... I spend a lot of time on my hair, I like doing my nails, and I got some workout clothes so I can run on the beach.

[bad_crowmance]

How does reanimating skeletons work?

[bowtiedbones]

For the short answer: I call pieces of souls from other dead members of that species, as souls in my world naturally decay after death, and those parts assemble into a whole, functionally new individual. My magic, which is generated by my living human soul, binds them together and ties them to the host skeleton. I use arrays and sigils to get everything to work, and for stuff like making sure the skeleton stays where I can see it or that it can even stand up. My familiars help with safety and let me work with a larger pool of magic than I can produce myself.

[bad_crowmance]

Whoa.... that sounds like some impressive stuff!

[bowtiedbones]

Have you met Isildur and Isolde?

[bad_crowmance]

[ He shakes his head slightly. ]

I haven't! They your familiars?

[bowtiedbones]

They're two of them~ I got their skeletons back just recently! They're both at least 8000 years dead.

[bad_crowmance]

That's a really long time to be dead.

[ He sounds impressed. ]

[bowtiedbones]

It is! They're just about at the upper limit for what's possible to summon.

[bad_crowmance]

So it just doesn't work anymore after a certain point?

[bowtiedbones]

The older the target is, the more difficult it is. You'll hit problems like not having enough remains or the right quality of remains to work with— like Isolde is actually made of parts from different skeletons, because that got better results than using an incomplete one. The older it is, too, the more the souls have decayed and the broader an area you might have to cover. After a certain point, it takes too much time and energy to be safe. Some of these older summons need you to be awake for 24 hours solid, and without a single mistake.

[bad_crowmance]

And of course the longer you're awake, the easier it is to make a mistake.

[bowtiedbones]

And less able to fix the mistake if it does happen. Some of my summonings wouldn't be possible at all without my familiars, and I still have to ask my brother for help sometimes to have an extra magician on the circle.

[bad_crowmance]

It sounds like it's a lot more complicated than it first it would first seem.

[bowtiedbones]

It's so complicated.

[bad_crowmance]

Then you must be really smart!

[bowtiedbones]

I like to think so!

[bad_crowmance]

It definitely sounds that way. You're pretty impressive.

[bowtiedbones]

Thanks.

[bad_crowmance]

And you can take a compliment! I like that.

[bowtiedbones]

Modesty's okay, but I know when I've done a good job.

[bad_crowmance]

I think it's good! You should be able to acknowledge when you've done something right and wear it with pride.

[bowtiedbones]

Big agree!